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wattle

 - 5 dictionary results

wat⋅tle

  [wot-l] noun, verb, -tled, -tling, adjective
Use wattle in a Sentence
–noun
1. Often, wattles. a number of rods or stakes interwoven with twigs or tree branches for making fences, walls, etc.
2. wattles, a number of poles laid on a roof to hold thatch.
3. (in Australia) any of various acacias whose shoots and branches were used by the early colonists for wattles, now valued esp. for their bark, which is used in tanning.
4. a fleshy lobe or appendage hanging down from the throat or chin of certain birds, as the domestic chicken or turkey.
–verb (used with object)
5. to bind, wall, fence, etc., with wattle or wattles.
6. to roof or frame with or as if with wattles.
7. to form into a basketwork; interweave; interlace.
8. to make or construct by interweaving twigs or branches: to wattle a fence.
–adjective
9. built or roofed with wattle or wattles.
Origin:
bef. 900; (n.) ME wattel, OE watul covering, akin to wætla bandage; (v.) ME wattelen, deriv. of the n.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To wattle
wat·tle   (wŏt'l)   
n.  

    1. A construction of poles intertwined with twigs, reeds, or branches, used for walls, fences, and roofs.

    2. Material used for such construction.

  2. A fleshy, wrinkled, often brightly colored fold of skin hanging from the neck or throat, characteristic of certain birds, such as chickens or turkeys, and some lizards.

  3. Botany Any of various Australian trees or shrubs of the genus Acacia.

tr.v.   wat·tled, wat·tling, wat·tles

  1. To construct from wattle.

  2. To weave into wattle.


[Middle English wattel, from Old English watel, hurdle.]
wat'tled adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

wattle  (2)
"fleshy appendage below the neck of certain birds," 1513 (extended jocularly to human beings, 1570), of uncertain origin and of doubtful relationship to wattle (1).

wattle  (1)
"stakes interlaced with twigs and forming the framework of the wall of a building," O.E. watol "hurdle," in plural "twigs, thatching, tiles," related to weðel "bandage," of unknown origin. Surviving in wattle-and-daub "building material for huts, etc." (1808).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: wat·tle
Pronunciation: 'wät-&l
Function: noun
: a fleshy process that hangs usually from the head or neck (as of abird) —wat·tled /-&ld/ adjective
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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